Automaton
by Invader Snik
Summary: After finding out that their new acquaintance, Moon, has left Danville, the boys receive a mysterious email from a user claiming to be one of Moon's old friends. There's just one problem: Moon's told them she's never had any friends. So who is this user, really, and what does he want? The boys may get to delve a little deeper into Moon's past than they bargained for...
1. The Day That Moon Skipped Town

He couldn't see a thing beyond the cold murky darkness. He could do little except sit, hoping that someone would come for him. As his vision began to adjust to the dark, he could make out the outlines of the cage he'd been trapped in. It was cold here, and he sat huddled in the corner to keep himself warm. He shivered. Well, he thought to himself, at least he wasn't alone. Zhalgo had been keeping him company for the past two days, and he was glad of that.

He wondered how Ferb was doing. He was probably fine. He kind of missed him. He thought about Candace, and whatever she was doing. She was probably out looking for him. He appreciated that. He wondered if Moon had heard about what had happened. Maybe she would come and save him again.

But somehow he doubted that. If the metal-man was right, she'd skipped town days ago, and she probably wouldn't be back. What would that make him, then, he wondered.

Probably dead.

He sighed.

* * *

-four days earlier-

"Mom! Come and see what Phineas and Ferb are doing!" Candace shouted from behind the gate. I liked how she was always so enthusiastic about what we did every day. She would always watch and try to guess what we were building (sometimes Ferb and I would give her hints). After she'd guessed what it was, she'd always go and show Mom. She must be so proud of us.

Well, it never really got to the showing Mom part. For one reason or another, everything we built always found a new home by the time Mom got back. That was fine with us. We didn't have enough space to keep everything anyway.

Sure enough, soon as Mom came into the backyard our new transmogrifier was gone.

Candace just stood there for a moment, but then sighed. "I'll be upstairs."

"Okay, Candace," Mom replied, then turning to Ferb and me.

"Hi, Mom!" I grinned, "How was work?"

Mom sighed. "Oh, just the boring same-old same-old. You boys want to come in for some snacks?"

"Okay," I followed Ferb inside and we joined Marissa at the kitchen table. She'd been sketching again, and the tabletop was littered with several sheets of notebook paper, little frilly edges sticking up where they'd been torn out of the book.

"Hey, boys," said Marissa, "What've you been doing today?"

"Does it matter?" Candace interrupted from the counter, "Mom didn't even see it."

"Oh, don't be like that, Candace," I sympathized, "You can have a turn on whatever we build tomorrow."

Candace only groaned, quickly disappearing upstairs.

"You boys have such active imaginations," was all Mom said before she went off to go say hi to Dad.

"Hey, Ferb, you wanna go and say hi to Moon?" I asked, "I think she's kind of lonely up there, you know?"

Ferb only nodded.

"Now hold on a minute," Marissa put in, "That Moon's dangerous. I'm not so sure you should be going out there by yourself."

"Well, why don't you come with us, then?" I turned to her, "Just maybe to hang out for a while."

Marissa faltered. "Well, that's not really what I meant-"

"Don't sweat it, Marissa," I encouraged, giving her a playful nudge with one elbow. "What's the worst that could happen?"

* * *

Moon wasn't home. That's what happened. All we found was a note on the door that had "back in five" scrawled in messy handwriting. Well, that was a little weird. Usually Moon would be home during the day, unless she'd found another place to sleep.

"Oh, well, Moon's not here. Come on, let's go," said Marissa, turning back down the rough dirt driveway that led into the woods.

"Oh, we'll just wait for her. Five minutes isn't long," I replied hopefully, taking her hand and tugging her back. "Come on, please?"

Marissa groaned. "Fine."

So we sat out on the front step until sundown. It was a little more than five minutes, but that was okay. It was dark by the time we got home, and soon as we came into the house Candace went bonkers. As it turned out she'd been watching a bunch of scary movies all in a row and was a little jittery.

I thought it was kind of funny.

* * *

I set my alarm a little early the next morning, hoping to catch Moon before she went to sleep. The sun wasn't up yet, although the sky had begun to turn a very morning-like shade of pink. Ferb and I dressed quickly, sneaking downstairs so we wouldn't wake Mom and Dad up. We'd probably be back before they woke up, anyway.

"Where do you two think you're going?"

We both froze. After a minute I turned to see Candace at the top of the stairs, her arms crossed and an annoyed look on her face. "If you think you're going off to build another one of your stupid machines that doesn't make any sense you are _so_ busted-"

"We're going out to Moon's house," I told her, "She wasn't home last night."

"What?" Candace came down the stairs after us, her bare feet making a soft thud on each step, and stared down right into my eyes. "You know that Moon is a weirdo. Come on, just go back to bed."

"You want to come too?" I asked.

Candace shook her head. "You guys aren't going anywhere. Now come on."

"But, Candace-"

"Forget it, Phineas," she snapped, "Now go back up to bed or else I'm telling Mom."

There was silence for a moment as she glared at me, unwavering, but then I just sighed. "Okay. Come on, Ferb."

The two of us went back upstairs, with Candace following close behind, and we made sure that she was back in her room before hopping out the window and down the street. Moon's house was on the end of Aspen Street, only a couple of blocks away, and by the time we got there the sun was just poking up in between the houses on the edge of the forest. The two of us went quickly up the dirt driveway, leaving small dewey footprints that would probably disappear once the sun rose a little higher. Opening the front gate, I could see Khan sleeping out on the front step, her tail drooped over the edge. As we got closer she woke. First yawning and then stretching, she turned to us and chattered.

"Hi, Khan," I scooped her up and held her for a moment, giving her a little scratch just behind the head. It was the same place that made Perry's tail jump up, and I wondered if it was the same for her.

It wasn't.

That was fine. She seemed happy enough to see us. When I put her back down again she sat on Ferb's feet, encouraging him to sit on the step and pet her.

"Is Moon home?" I asked, "She wasn't home yesterday, and we kind of wanted to visit."

Khan shook her head - apparently Moon hadn't been home since two days ago.

"Hmm. That's a little weird," I speculated, "I wonder what happened."

Ferb looked up at me from petting Khan. "Phineas," he said, "I think she's gone."


	2. RocketJawsOfFire1229

It was still early by the time the boys got back from Shadowshire. Candace had gone back to sleep, and their parents hadn't woken up yet, giving them an easy time sneaking back up to their room. Perry had found a comfortable place on one of Ferb's pillows, and he watched them both come inside.

"Oh, good morning, Perry," Phineas took a seat next to him and began scratching him behind his head. After a moment Perry chattered.

"I don't suppose you know where Moon is, do you?" Phineas asked, not really expecting an answer.

Perry blinked.

"Oh, well. I hope she'll be back soon. She was nice," Phineas sat back, pulling Perry up onto his lap and continuing his affection.

Just then his laptop, which had been sitting in the drawer of his bed-table, gave a sudden ping, alerting him that he'd just received an email. He frowned. "That's weird," he said, "If that's the supply warehouse again, it's a little early, don't you think?"

Ferb just shrugged.

Phineas shrugged back, carefully settling Perry on the pillow where he'd been sitting to make room for his laptop as he pulled it up off the table into his lap. He opened it, waited a minute for it to boot up, and then clicked on the little paper-airplane icon in the corner of the screen.

Ferb glanced down over his shoulder, a little curious himself. The email wasn't familiar to them: RocketJawsOfFire1229. That wasn't anyone they knew. Regardless, Phineas clicked it open. It read:

_"I don't believe we've met, Phineas Flynn, but it seems awe share an acquaintance. Moon is, shall I say, an old friend, and about a week ago I thought I would send her a brief hello. Unfortunately, she seems to have disappeared and it is for this purpose that I am contacting you. I am concerned for Moon and would greatly appreciate it if you would help me locate her. Please let me know as I am anxious to share some old feelings with her._

_ Best regards."_

Phineas frowned. "That's weird. Moon said she never had any friends. What do you think, Ferb?"

Ferb blinked.

"Well, let's see what this is all about," Phineas resolved, his fingers clicking over the keyboard as he typed his response:

_"Unfortunately, we haven't seen Moon either. We went to visit her last night and again this morning, but she wasn't home. If she comes back, Ferb and I will let you know._

_ "How long have you known Moon? She's told us she didn't have any friends, and we're a little curious."_

He paused briefly, turning to Ferb. "You have anything to add?"

Ferb shook his head.

"Okay," he clicked _send_ and waited a moment, then set the laptop back on the bed-table and followed Ferb downstairs for breakfast.

By the time they got there, Candace and Marissa had already finished, and were in the midst of an argument that neither of the boys really wanted to be involved in. They each took a seat, and within seconds the girls' argument dissolved into silence. Ferb grabbed the cereal and poured himself a bowl, and after a minute Phineas did the same.

"Morning, boys," said Marissa, any trace of irritation gone from her voice. She gave Phineas a grin, which was returned, and then turned to Ferb. "Candace said you wanted to go out to Moon's house this morning."

"We wanted to, yeah," Phineas confirmed, "But Candace said she'd wake Mom up if we did."

Marissa was silent for a moment. When she spoke her voice was neutral, but Phineas knew that was only because she couldn't get angry with either him or Ferb. "Moon's dangerous. She kills all these little animals, and she's got that huge knife with her all the time, and she's just so weird. You never know what could happen with her."

"Well, she did save my life," Phineas shrugged, "Twice, actually. She can't be all that bad."

Marissa hesitated, but then relented. "I guess you're right-but she's still dangerous."

"She's friendly enough," Phineas grinned.

Marissa just left it at that. If they were going to go out to that kooky old house again later, she'd like either herself or Candace to be there too. That Moon was too unpredictable for her to let them go alone.

"Hey, Marissa?" Phineas asked suddenly, "Do you know anyone online called RocketJawsOfFire1229?"

Marissa frowned. "No, why?"

"Ferb and I got an email from them before we came down for breakfast. We were just wondering if you knew them."

Marissa shrugged. "Ask Candace. Before she found out Jeremy existed she stalked about a hundred other people online."

"Hey!" Candace exclaimed, giving Marissa a glare, "It was only fifty-seven, okay?"

"Were any of them called RocketJawsOfFire1229?" Phineas asked.

Candace shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Hmm, that's weird. We'll just have to ask them how they got our email, then," Phineas resolved, leading Ferb back upstairs to their room. He could see the laptop sitting open, showing them another email from this RocketJaws. It read:

_"Absolutely no idea? How curious. If she's at all like I knew her some years ago, she has a knack for finding trouble. I had hoped that she would have confided in someone where she had gone. I visited her new residence some days ago, but neither of her strange pets would tell me where she had gone. I am looking forward to meeting you two, and I am looking forward to your help in locating the elusive Moon._

_ Best regards."_

Phineas replied: _"Ferb and I are always looking to make new friends. We'd be happy to meet you sometime! Just name the time and place and we'd love to get together with you._

_ Till then, Phineas&Ferb"_

They hardly had to wait for RocketJaws' reply: _"How about the park in an hour?"_

Immediately one of Phineas' eyebrows shot up. "Well, that was quick. What do you say, Ferb, you wanna meet this guy?"

Ferb nodded.

"Okay, then," Phineas nodded, then typed two words: _"Sounds good."_ Closing the laptop and setting it back on the bed-table, he went over to the closet that he and Ferb shared and dug out a box that was full of blueprints. "What do you say we whip up a little something for him? I bet he'd like that."

Ferb agreed without a word. The two of them quickly settled on a blueprint that they both liked, and within minutes they had taken the beginnings of the project out to the garage for work.

"What are you two doing?" Candace asked from behind them, making them both jump.

"Oh, hi, Candace," Phineas smiled, turning and showing her the piece that he'd just finished putting together. "We're meeting a friend at the park in a little while and we thought it would be cool to build him a temporal modulator-"

"Yeah yeah yeah," Candace waved a hand, dismissing Phineas' words, "But is it bustable?"

"Well, you could break it if you really wanted to, I guess," Phineas shrugged, "But-"

"Great!" Candace exclaimed, grabbing the piece out of her brother's hand and then turning back to the house. "Mom! Come and see what Phineas and Ferb are building!"

"But, Candace-" Phineas started, but she was already gone. He just shrugged. "It's not even finished yet. It won't do much."

"Well, she's got the control modulator. Maybe it'll turn her green," Ferb put in.

Phineas giggled. "With Candace's luck it probably would. Ah, well, let's just get this thing finished."

Ferb agreed, and soon they were back to work. The rest of the device assembled fairly quickly, and once it was put together the two of them turned to each other. Rock, paper, scissors. "Rock beats scissors," Phineas proclaimed, "Go and get the control modulator from Candace. If she turned green I'll give you a quarter."

Ferb nodded and then disappeared into the house. He returned a moment later with the control in one hand, and tossed it to Phineas so he could finish assembling the machine.

"Well?" Phineas asked, "What color did she turn?"

Ferb only shook his head. No suck luck, apparently.

"Oh, well," Phineas shrugged, clicking the last piece into the machine and then taking a step back. "You wanna see it in action?"

Ferb nodded, flicking the switch on one side and then stepping back as well. For a long moment nothing happened, but then there was an ear-piercing shriek from inside. Before either of the boys could speculate on this, Candace burst into the garage, furious. It seemed she'd turned green after all. "Phineas and Ferb, what have you done to me?" she cried, "I'm supposed to meet Jeremy in like ten minutes! I can't go out like this!"

"Oh, don't worry, Candace," Phineas assured her, fishing a quarter out of his pocket to hand to Ferb, "Here. It's no big deal."

Ferb reached over to the machine and adjusted one of the knobs on the side, setting Candace back to her normal color. He gave her a thumbs-up without a word.

"There, see?" Phineas grinned, "It's fine."

Candace looked down at herself, making sure everything was in order, and then turned back to Phineas. "And don't you do that again, got it?"

"Sorry," said Phineas.

Candace stomped off into the house without another word, and Phineas waited until she was out of earshot to burst into laughter. "That was great! Did you see the look on her face? Priceless..."

Ferb agreed with a tiny amused smirk. He and Phineas high-fived, and then Phineas glanced down at his watch. "Well, I guess we'd better get to the park. I wanna meet this RocketJaws guy."

Ferb picked up the machine and set it carefully down in the boys' red wagon, following Phineas down the driveway to the edge of the street. He saw his mother planting tulips around the mailbox, and smiled. "Hi, Mom. The tulips look good."

"Thanks, hon," she replied without looking up, "Where are you two off to?"

"Just the park, if that's okay. We're meeting a friend," Phineas told her.

His mother nodded, her eyes still on the flowers. "Okay, well, you boys have fun."

"Okay, Mom," Phineas grinned, and then he and Ferb headed for the park. It was still early; the morning's dew hadn't had quite enough time to disappear, and when they took the wagon onto the grass it left two long lines where it had been. They both took a seat on one of the benches that were scattered about the park, and for a few minutes they waited in silence.

There were sudden footsteps behind them and the boys both turned to see a small robot that resembled an oversized scorpion. It had six sharp legs and a long tail that ended in a rough-cut point. The front of its body was a small camera lens, black and lifeless, but it turned up and gave each of the boys a solid look-over. It spoke in a monotonous voice, mechanical. "Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher?"

"Yeah, that's us," Phineas nodded, resting his elbows on the back of the bench as he stared down at the robot, "You didn't tell us you were a robot."

"This is just a scout," the robot explained, "I can send it anyplace I please."

"Well, it is pretty cool," Phineas admitted with a grin.

The robot was silent.

After a moment Phineas spoke again. "We brought something for you," he said, pointing over to the wagon that Ferb had brought with them, "We thought you might like it."

The robot turned and hopped up onto the edge of the wagon, looking over the boys' offering. After a minute it turned back to them. "I thought these defied the laws of physics. This cannot possibly be functional...?"

Phineas nodded. "Yeah. It works. We accidentally turned my sister green with it earlier."

"I see," was all the robot said.

Phineas was silent for a moment, but then felt he had to ask: "How come you sent a robot out instead of coming yourself?"

The robot turned back to him without a word.

"I was just curious," Phineas shrugged, "If you don't wanna mention it you don't have to."

"There is no possible way I could have come out for you today," was all it said.

Phineas shrugged. "Okay."

"What about your friend Moon?" the robot asked suddenly, looking up at Ferb, "Where has she gone?"

"We don't have any idea, actually," Phineas told it, shifting his position slightly so the foot he had been sitting on would wake up again. After a minute he cringed slightly, shaking the pins and needles away, and then turned back to the robot.

"Are you sure?" the robot persisted, "Have you considered looking for her?"

Phineas shrugged. "She'll come back when she wants to. She left Khan and Khalia here so I'm assuming she will."

"Her two pets," the robot clarified.

Phineas nodded. "Yeah."

"We should look for her," said the robot, giving Phineas a long stare with the lens mounted in its body, "I want to find her."

"Why don't you just hang around a few days?" Phineas suggested, "Maybe she'll come back-"

"I want to find her today," the robot insisted, "You should help."

"But I-"

"Come," the robot interrupted, turning and scuttling down the sidewalk and off toward the street. After a minute it turned back to the boys. "Come."

The boys exchanged glances, and then followed the robot back into the streets.


	3. The Mind Behind the Machine

The robot led the boys back through the streets, and after a few minutes they reached the edge of the neighborhood. Phineas wasn't really sure where they were going, but he would follow nonetheless. He and Ferb exchanged glances every now and then, but nothing was said between them.

Eventually the robot stopped. It turned back to them, the camera mounted on its body betraying none of its thoughts, and spoke. "You will find Moon. You will find her, and you will return her here by this time tomorrow. That is all."

"What?" Phineas asked, "I thought we could be friends."

The robot paused, then replied: "Perhaps we will. But first you must find Moon and bring her back to me."

"How come?" Phineas asked, "Were you one of her friends?"

The robot was silent. It settled on the curb for a moment, and then finally looked up at the two of them. "I used to be."

"Moon told us she never had any friends," Phineas frowned, "Why would she ignore you like that?"

"You would have to ask her that when you find her," the robot told them matter-of-factly. After a short pause it asked, "How much of her do you know, exactly?"

"She hasn't told us a lot, really," Phineas admitted, "She's pretty secluded. But she's nice enough. She saved my life the first time we met, you know."

"Interesting," the robot said flatly.

Phineas nodded. "She says she doesn't want any friends, and that she's happy enough living on her own in that old house up on the hill, but I think she gets a little lonely up there sometimes. You know?"

"No," said the robot.

Phineas shrugged. "Well, that's okay too. How come you're looking for her, anyway? How long were you friends with her?"

The robot was silent. Apparently it didn't want to answer. It only stared with its dark black lens, unwavering. Just when Phineas was certain it wouldn't reply, it did: "About three months."

"Really?" Phineas cocked an eyebrow, "What happened after that?"

The robot just settled, clearly not wanting to talk much about the topic. If it had been offended or irritated at what Phineas had said, it didn't show.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Phineas said quickly, "Can you at least tell us your name?"

The robot didn't move. After a minute Phineas realized that it had shut off. It just sat silently at the edge of the road, inactive.

"Hmm," Phineas frowned, "That was unexpected."

Ferb just shrugged.

Phineas turned to him. "I guess we go home, then. I wonder if Moon will come back? I wish she would. I think she should meet her old friend again."

Ferb had no comment.

"Oh, well. Come on, Ferb. Let's go see if Moon came home," Phineas pulled him back through the streets, toward the end of Aspen Street, and within minutes they reached the front door of the old house. The place was empty; the same note hung on the front door: "Back in five."

Moon wasn't home.

Phineas sighed. "Oh, well. We'll try again later tonight. Let's go home."

Ferb agreed.

The two of them wound back through the streets, eventually finding their way back to the garage and from there up into their room. By the time they got there, the sun had come up over the top of the tree that stood in the backyard and the dew that had been there when they had come had gone. Perry had all but disappeared, same as usual, leaving the boys alone in the house since Phineas remembered Candace mentioning something about hanging out with Jeremy and Marissa sat reading in the backyard. He could see his mother still working with the tulips by the street, and since the garage had been empty when they'd come in, that meant that Lawrence was out running some errands.

Phineas sat back on the edge of his bed, pensive, and after a moment he turned back to Ferb. "D'you think she'd really just run away from us like that?" he asked, "Is it just me or does RocketJawsOfFire1229 seem a little weird to you?"

Ferb blinked.

"Yeah," Phineas agreed, "You're right. It's probably nothing. Oh, well. I guess we got done early, then. We've already built that temporal machine so I guess we're pretty much off the hook, unless you want to do anything in particular."

Ferb shrugged.

"Cool. A day off, then," Phineas resolved, flopping back onto the bed and stretching his hands out to the other side. He was about to say something else, but the sound of Isabella's voice floated in through the window and he paused. Jumping up off the bed, he opened the window further and spotted her standing in front of Marissa.

"Hi, Isabella!" he called with a grin, waving to her to get her attention.

"Phineas?" Isabella asked, her voice chipper, "Aren't you going to build anything today?"

"We already did," Phineas told her, "Come on inside and Ferb and I can tell you all about it."

A minute later he could hear Isabella's footsteps coming down the hall, and then the door opened and she poked her head inside.

"Come on in," Phineas invited, scooting over on the bed to make room for her to sit.

Isabella sat, giving Phineas a strange look. "How early were you up today?" she asked, "Usually you guys haven't even finished your project by the time I get here."

Phineas nodded. "We made a new friend today," he told her, "RocketJawsOfFire1229. He's pretty cool."

"So what did you build?" Isabella asked, frowning.

"A temporal machine," Phineas said proudly, "It can rip holes in space-time and a whole bunch of other stuff."

"Just earlier this morning it turned Candace green," Ferb put in.

Phineas giggled. "Yeah, that was pretty funny."

"So who's this RocketJaws guy?" Isabella inquired, "That sounds like a username for some weird website where you look at pictures of cats."

"It's his email," Phineas replied with a shrug, "He didn't tell us his real name."

"Well, what does he look like?" Isabella chirped, "You said you met him, didn't you? Or was it just an email chat?"

Phineas hesitated. "Well, when we talked to him earlier, he'd sent out a little scorpion-looking robot instead of coming on his own. It was pretty cool."

Isabella frowned. "That's weird. Do you think he might be hiding something?"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that," Phineas shrugged, giving Isabella a neutral look, "We don't need to pry too far into that, do we?"

Isabella shook her head. "I guess not," she admitted. There was a pause, but then she added, "So what now? Are you going to see him again?"

"Well, he emailed us this morning looking for Moon," Phineas told her, "We found out last night that she'd skipped town, but-"

"Good riddance," Isabella huffed before she could stop herself.

Phineas didn't seem to notice. "-but he wants to see her anyway. He said we should find her so that he can meet her. He said he's an old friend of hers."

"That can't be right," Isabella protested, "Moon said she never had any friends-"

"Exactly," Phineas agreed. He gave Isabella a short glance and then continued. "Either he's not telling the truth or else Moon is hiding something."

"What's she hiding?" Isabella asked, "Probably something really bad."

Phineas just shrugged. "Beats me. But that's her business."

"What?" Isabella exclaimed, "Aren't you at least curious?"

"A little. But I'm not going to press it further than she's comfortable with."

"But-" she started.

Phineas shook his head. "It's not a problem. That's okay with us. Right, Ferb?"

Ferb nodded.

"See?"

Isabella didn't answer. Of course Phineas would think Moon was okay. He was too oblivious to see that Moon was weird. She wasn't just weird; she was dangerous. It was just as well that she'd run off.

Wasn't it?


	4. Capture

It was almost dark by the time the boys went back to Shadowshire. Candace had gone with them, despite her loathing of Moon, and the three of them stood at the front gate. Even from there, Phineas could see the note still stuck on the front door of the old house. He was starting to become a little worried for Moon. Maybe something had happened to her.

Candace had said she just plain old ditched them.

Phineas didn't really want to believe that. He wanted to think that Moon was just out for a while, and that she'd be back later.

Ferb didn't seem to have an opinion.

* * *

Morning came soon enough, and the sharp sound of the alarm woke Ferb from his dreams. With one hand he slammed down on the snooze button, fumbling around behind it to find the switch that disabled the alarm. It was the first thing he did every morning and yet, despite this, it seemed that the switch never became easier to find. He yawned, stretched, scratched, and then looked over at Phineas to see if he'd woken.

He had, although he seemed a little more enthusiastic than his step-brother. He yawned and then met his stare. "Good morning, Ferb," he grinned.

Ferb just blinked. He wasn't in the habit of saying much, but first thing in the morning he never said anything at all. He counted himself lucky if he was able to think before breakfast. He knew Phineas never noticed this, since he was just the same quiet Ferb, and that was alright with him.

He yawned.

He and Phineas dressed quickly and then headed downstairs for breakfast, and then after that to discuss the day's plans. Phineas had a few ideas and he was eager to hear what Ferb had to say. He had a feeling Ferb would like them. He usually did. He supposed that, after they were done with the day's activities, the two of them would stop by Shadowshire later to see if Moon had come back yet. It was okay if she hadn't, but if nothing else he wanted to say hi to Khan and Khalia. He thought that maybe they were a little lonely up in that house, especially since Moon wasn't home, and he'd do the best he could to fix that.

As the sun rose higher, the boys migrated to the backyard to begin their daily routine of defying the laws of time and space. Candace watched them from her bedroom window, as she usually did, and soon they settled on a final idea for the day.

The back gate swung open with a creak, and Isabella skipped into the yard with a grin on her face. "Hey, Phineas," she greeted cutely, "What'cha doin'?"

"Oh, hi, Isabella," Phineas grinned, "We're-"

"So busted!" Candace cried from the window. Phineas looked up to see that she had set up a mounted camera overlooking the yard and had apparently been filming them for most of the morning. She didn't seem too happy - Phineas wasn't exactly sure why, but decided it must be a girl thing - and she stood glaring down at the boys.

"Oh, hi, Candace!" Phineas called, "What's with the camera?"

Candace huffed. "Nothing you have to worry about, at least until you're busted! I'm telling Mom!" and then she disappeared inside, taking the camera with her.

Phineas shrugged. "Well, that was a little weird."

"Yeah, I'll say," Isabella agreed, "You guys didn't even do anything yet."

Before Phineas could say anything else, there was a small click behind him and he turned to see the little robot from yesterday, sitting on the grass in front of him. He grinned. "Oh, hi," he said, taking a seat as well so he could be level with it, "What happened yesterday? You kinda shut down on us."

The robot turned to Isabella briefly, focusing its lens on her for a moment and then turning back to Phineas. When it spoke its voice seemed irritated. "Have you found your friend?"

Phineas shook his head. "She wasn't home last night, so-"

"Come," said the robot, looking up at Phineas.

Phineas frowned. "Well, Ferb and I were planning to build a-"

"Come," the robot repeated. It didn't wait for an answer before turning and heading off toward the street.

Phineas glanced to Ferb and shrugged. "I guess we follow it."

Ferb blinked.

The two of them quickly chased the robot out into the streets, back to the place where it had led them the day before. When they got there it sat silently, waiting for them.

"Oh, there you are," Phineas finally caught up to it, with Ferb close behind, and took a minute to catch his breath before turning back to the robot. "How come you brought us here? Isn't this the same place you showed us yesterday?"

The robot only stood, watching without a sound.

Phineas thought that maybe RocketJaws wouldn't mind if he took it back home for a while and showed him some more of what he and Ferb did, so he made to pick it up. As soon as he got close enough he sprung a hidden trap that caught him and pinned him to the ground before he could even realize what had happened. After a moment he was gone.

Before Ferb could react, the robot spoke. Its voice was steely and mechanical, like the voice of an engine itself, flaming under its metal shell. "It is clear to me now that you have no regard for your friend Moon - and she likely has the same for you - and so I will make this simple for you. I have given you a day to find her, and you have ignored me. I will give you three more. If you ignore me again, your brother will be killed. Understood?"

Ferb glared. Without a word he reached for the robot, so that he could tear it up into scrap for what it had done. The robot hardly moved, just flicking its sharp tail that stung Ferb like a bee and made him pull his hand back away from it.

"You have three days," it told him, "And one more thing - if you _do_ find your friend, tell her that old Six-Bolt said hello."


	5. Zhalgo

Phineas didn't know what had hit him. All he knew was that he'd been snared with thin steel cables and then pulled down into a dark space. He could hardly see, and he could hardly move. What was this about, he wondered. Why would one of Moon's old friends be after her like this? Why hadn't Moon mentioned ever having any friends? He frowned, trying to remember what it was that she _had_ said on the topic. Very little, he knew. Every time he asked her if she wanted to be his friend, she would decline and then change the subject. He had thought that was a little bit odd, but he wouldn't press the matter as he thought it was fair that she shouldn't have to talk about it if she didn't want to.

There was a sudden click behind him and the cables that had tangled around him began to loosen, allowing him to squirm free of them. A thin crack of light in front of him drew his attention, and he could see, past it, an empty cavern that must have been at least a hundred feet high. It was dark, but since he could still see he assumed that there was an opening nearby. Suddenly it went dark, and as the ground under him split open he scrambled back. A piercing yellow light fell over him, making him flinch and hold a hand over his eyes to shield them, and a moment later an enormous steel hand grabbed him and pulled him out into the cavern. Immediately he was hit with a blast of cold air, making him shiver, and he sat square in the middle of the gigantic hand that had taken him. The impossibly bright light was still on him, and he felt exposed by it, as if it could see through him.

He didn't say a word.

The light on him dimmed, just enough to allow him to see, and he looked back to see that he was sitting in the hands of an iron giant, easily fifty feet tall. It was distinctly mechanical in appearance, with two enormous hex-nut shoulder-blades and thick steel arms that had been dented in various places from years of wear. Its head was two solid pieces of metal, a hinged dinosaur-mouth with huge sharp teeth that marked a single zig-zag line across its face. Welded onto the top were its eyes, like the headlights of some old scrapped car, and from somewhere inside of it came the deep rumble of a massive engine that provided its power.

It looked down at him, and when it spoke its voice was deep and metallic, like its entire throat had been crafted out of metal. "Phineas Flynn," it said, "It seems your friend proves still elusive. I have told your step-brother already, and now I must inform you: if she is not found and returned to me within three days, I will have to kill you."

Phineas frowned. "Is that really necessary? I mean-"

"Silence," growled the machine, its fingers closing around him, "You will stay here for three days, and if your friend Moon is not found you will face your death."

Phineas didn't answer. He could only sit, huddled, and watch as the machine took him away, down into a dark tunnel. He could see little other than the machine's two enormous headlights, and he sat back in its huge palm as it went, making the entire earth rumble with its footsteps. After a long time, it stopped in front of a dark cavern and then looked down at Phineas. "You will spend your final days here," it told him, and then paused a moment so that he could get a good look at the place before turning to another structure. It appeared to be an old automaton, almost as big as the machine that held him, leaned up against the corner. It must have been there for years, Phineas reasoned, since it had rusted pretty badly. It stood like a Burtonesque creation, like something that could be found in an old abandoned cooky factory. Its head was a solid piece of molded metal, showing two enormous dark eyes and a blank sharp-toothed grin that stared back at him. Its neck was thin and eerily organic, made of steel vertebrae, attaching it to a rusted cage that seemed to hang in the air like a ghost. It took Phineas a minute to see its arms - thin wiry structures that stretched down, down, down to the ground far below. It stood balanced on its two slender hands and its tail, which hung loosely from the bottom of its cage. Phineas assumed it hadn't been functioning for years, and when the machine holding him opened up the front of the cage, it gave a loud screech that made Phineas flinch.

The machine quickly tossed him inside, closing the door with an equally grating squeal, and then looked down at him. "You will stay here until you are either released or killed. Pray that you will survive."

Phineas could do little but watch as the monstrosity turned and rumbled away, its engines slowly fading into silence and leaving him alone in the dark. He could feel his heart beginning to race as his mind edged toward panic, but he only sat in silence. Whatever would happen to him, it was out of his control now.

There was a sudden creak overhead and he looked up to see that the old machine that had trapped him was looking down at him. Its eyes had begun to glow the smallest bit, and it slowly turned its head down at him. The steel gave a harsh protest as it craned its neck to get a better look at him.

Phineas scrambled back, as he had thought that this machine wasn't functional, and pressed up against the back corner of his cage. He kept his eyes locked on the Burtonesque demon's head, and it stared back at him, unblinking. Although its face had been forced into an eternal smile, it seemed more curious than anything. It creaked with every move, chips of corroded metal and rust falling free of the joints in its neck as it brought its head down lower, until it had reached as far as it could. Its eyes seemed to glow with Phineas' own energy, and he realized he was becoming the slightest bit dizzy. He blinked a few times to clear it from his head, glancing back at the automaton that watched him.

Slowly he approached the front of his cage, becoming a little curious himself, and stared back at the machine. He could see a small nameplate that had been mounted on the corner of the cage, but it was too rusted to be able to read. Regardless, he reached out to it and ran one finger along its edge. The rust came off relatively easily, and after a moment he could make out: ZHALGO, stamped in rigid letters on the nameplate.

Phineas turned back to it. "Zhalgo?" he asked, "Is that your name?"

The machine screeched. The sound was horrible, like two stone crows screaming, and and pierced Phineas' mind and made him dizzy. Out of instinct he put his hands over his ears to try and drive it out of his head, but it didn't make a difference. After it had finished, he backed away, retreating to the corner where he had been a minute ago.

The automaton suddenly shifted, throwing Phineas off-balance and making him scrabble back to the corner as the entire structure sank lower, lower, until it came to an uneven stop on its coiled tail. After a moment he could see that both of its hands had been dislodged from their corrosion-encrusted places on the hard ground. They cracked every time they moved, just two wiry fingers that split evenly from the arms, without any distinguishable wrist or thumb. With one side it curled its fingers around the bars of its cage, and with the other it reached inside and settled coldly over Phineas, pulling him gently closer to the front where it could get a better look at him.

Phineas only sat, unsure of what exactly this thing wanted. He wondered how old it was, and why it wasn't maintained, and where it came from, and a hundred other things that clouded his mind.

Finally he asked, "Is Zhalgo your name?"

The machine only stared back, watching him, but then after a moment it gave a tiny nod. Its master had given it that name a long time ago, it remembered, and it wondered what this little machine inside of it came from. It was curious about him, and after having been inactive for so long - how long, it did not know - it wondered what was to become of it after this. It had seen its new master, the one that held the key to its cage, but it didn't like him. It thought that he was too rough, too violent. It had been left here to rust, and now that it was active again it thought that perhaps its master would want to see it after it had been lost. It thought that the little machine that sat inside of it might be able to help. It gave Phineas a mechanized whine, hoping to communicate, but Phineas didn't seem to understand.

He frowned. "What is it? What do you want?"

Zhalgo tried again, but it couldn't speak. Instead it could only offer grinding creaks as its words, and it knew that Phineas couldn't understand.

Phineas didn't. He only sat, near the bars of his confinement, staring back at Zhalgo. After a moment he asked it: "What happened to you? You look like you've been here for years."

Zhalgo gave a small nod. It wasn't sure how long it had been here, but it must have been a long time since it had rusted so badly.

Phineas leaned back against the bars on the side of his cage, resting his arms around his knees, and sighed. "I wish you could talk to me," he said, "I'm curious about you."

Zhalgo agreed. It was curious too about Phineas, where he had come from, or who had built him. It reached with both hands into its cage and poked at him, determined to find something out about him. It wondered if perhaps he was alive? It had seen things that had been alive, as its master had been, but it hadn't seen them in so long, it couldn't be sure.

Maybe this little thing was alive. Zhalgo was beginning to think so. It didn't feel like a machine, and it was to advanced to be an android. Yes, Zhalgo decided, this was a living creature. It would be very careful with it, as it knew that living things were far easier to break than machines. It wanted this little creature to be its friend, if it would allow that.

Having a friend would be nice.


	6. Finding Moon

Ferb could hardly think as he ran back to his house. By the time he got there, Isabella and Marissa had begun a discussion about something, but Ferb knew this was more important. Without waiting for a turn to speak he interrupted: "Phineas is gone!"

Both of them turned to Ferb, although Marissa was the first to speak. "What?" she exclaimed, "What happened?"

"The robot took him," he panted, catching his breath, "If we don't find Moon in three days he said he'll kill him."

"What do we do?" Isabella squeaked, "Moon's not even home!"

Marissa frowned. "There's definitely something fishy about this. Two days ago Moon wasn't home, and now there's someone that will kill to find her. This isn't right."

Ferb nodded in agreement.

"Well, do you think we _can_ find her?" Isabella asked, "Once we tell her what's happening she'll probably help us."

Marissa shook her head. "If this isn't just a coincidence, that means she knew this guy was coming and she wanted to get away from him. She's probably long gone by now."

"Well if we don't find her then Phineas will die!" Isabella exclaimed, "We have to at least look-"

"We will," Marissa agreed with a nod. She took a deep breath to keep her heart from racing - whenever something happened to Phineas, she always reacted this way. She was protective of him, since he was her brother, and she didn't want to think about what would happen if Moon wasn't found. She wondered what had made Moon run off so easily. She had been able to kill Bellidor in a fight; what was so different about this?

Then, she wondered, what if this _was_ different? If it had driven Moon away, what could she and Ferb and Isabella do about it? Her first thought was to try and find Phineas instead, and leave Moon to herself, as she seemed to prefer it that way in the first place, but then she discarded the thought. She had a feeling that finding Moon would be simpler. "We'll start at her house," she said, "Then we'll work from there."

"I thought you and Phineas were there yesterday," Isabella frowned, turning to Ferb, "Was she even there?"

Ferb shook his head.

"Well, it's a place to start, anyway," Marissa sighed, "I just hope Phineas is doing okay."

Isabella nodded in agreement. "Well, let's go, then."

Ferb followed them back to Shadowshire, and he caught himself going to knock on the door once they got there. Instead he just pushed it open, and he and Marissa and Isabella peered inside. The house seemed vacant, and apart from the three of them it was silent.

"Moon?" Marissa called, her voice echoing back to her in the huge front room. "Moon? Hello?"

There was no answer, although after a few minutes Khan waddled into the room. Seeing them, she sat with a soft plop on the floor.

"Hi, Khan," Isabella sat in front of her, cross-legged, and folded her hands neatly in her lap. "Have you seen Moon in the past few days?"

Khan shook her head.

"Did she tell you where she was going? Do you have any idea at all?"

Khan, again, shook her head.

"I wonder what it is about this guy that made Moon run off," Isabella pondered, putting a thoughtful hand up to her chin, "I mean, all we've seen of him is this little robot, right? Moon's handled bigger things than that."

"Maybe that means we should steer clear of him, too," Marissa said quietly. After a minute she added, "After we get Phineas back, I mean. Maybe Moon knows what she's doing. You said he was an old friend of hers, right?" she turned to Ferb, one of her eyebrows cocking inquisitively.

Ferb nodded. "He said his name was Six-Bolt."

"Well, no matter what his name is, we have to take Phineas back," Marissa resolved, "And in order to do that we have to find Moon."

Khan suddenly chattered, drawing their attention to Khalia, who had just wandered into the room and begun gnawing on Khan's tail. Khan pulled it away, and Khalia whined.

Isabella picked Khalia up, holding her carefully under the arms like the boys often did with Perry, and gave her a careful look-over. "Maybe she could track Moon," she though out loud, "I mean, we don't have any bloodhounds or anything, do we? And we're not getting very far on our own."

Marissa paused, thinking about it for a few moments, but then shrugged. "It's worth a try, I suppose."

Khalia squealed, a high kitten-like sound, and out of instinct Isabella quickly set her down, in case she'd hurt her. She rolled over on the floor for a minute, then hopped back onto her feet and sat by Ferb's side. She liked Ferb. He smelled the best of all of them. She sat by him for a moment as the humans finished discussing whatever it was that they thought was so important, but then lost interest in them and wandered off.

Before she could get too far, Ferb suddenly picked her up and held her firmly in his arms. If it had been Isabella or Marissa, she supposed she might have squirmed away, but instead she just lay still, her six stubby tails wavering in place. She looked up at Ferb, reaching up with one three-clawed paw and smacking his collar in amusement.

Ferb took her outside, to the front step, and sat on the cold concrete for a moment. He sat down and then asked her, "Can you find Moon?"

Khalia, immediately distracted, spotted a rabbit at the edge of the unkept grass, watched it for a moment, bounded after it, caught it, killed it, ate its death, and then killed it again, snapping its neck in one chomp and then taking it back onto the step and presenting it to Ferb as if he might eat it.

Ferb only blinked.

"Khalia, come on," Isabella groaned, "We need you to help us find Moon, okay?"

Khan chattered.

Khalia understood that. She squirmed in Isabella's hands, both paws stretched out in a playful grab for her nose, and Isabella reluctantly set her down on the edge of the step. Sticking her nose in the air, she began searching for Moon's scent. It was old and hard to track, but the trail was there and soon she hopped off into the grass and into the trees, headed into the forest away from town.

"Wait for me!" Isabella exclaimed, quickly chasing after Khalia and disappearing before either Ferb or Marissa could follow her.

* * *

It was almost dark by the time Khalia stopped. They had been at it for hours; Isabella was certain they'd started before noon, and it was nearly sundown now. That was what, nine, ten hours, maybe? Too long, she thought. Her feet hurt; her legs hurt; her stomach rumbled fiercely from not having eaten since breakfast. She was starting to get a little cold. She was tired. She just wanted to go home. Why had she gone after Moon, anyway? She didn't even like Moon. She'd be just as happy if this Six-Bolt guy took her away forever. That would suit her fine.

The coastline was somewhere up ahead, she knew. The air had taken on a faint marine scent, and sometimes if it was quiet enough she could hear the seagulls screaming from somewhere far-off. She wondered why Moon had followed the coast; it seemed almost too easy to track her from here, but then again if it hadn't been for Khalia she wouldn't have made it this far. It was cold here, too; after having left the summer of Danville, the wilderness quickly grew harsher. She should have brought a jacket; she could see her breath now, if she was looking for it, and she couldn't stop herself from shivering.

She just wanted to go home. Screw Moon. They'd probably have better luck finding Phineas than finding her anyway. That's what they should have done, she knew. They should have just found Phineas. Problem solved, right?

Khalia sat on Isabella's feet, keeping them warm, but after a moment she turned and headed quickly up a steep slope.

"Khalia, wait," Isabella called after her, but Khalia wasn't listening. She led Isabella up, up, until she could see a few flecks of snow that hovered in the air but didn't seem to want to settle on the ground. Still higher they went, until Khalia finally stopped at the edge of a sharply defined cave that had been hiding just over a ridge in the half-frozen ground. She sat, clearly expecting praise, but Isabella just scooped her up in her arms. She glanced down at the other side of the ridge, her eyes widening as she realized just how high up they were. It must have been at least half a mile; she could see the tiny peak of Danville Mountain far off in the distance, dwarfed by the surrounding landscape and almost invisible in the near dark. Far below was the coast, just a mangled pile of rocks housing rough choppy waves that seemed to beckon to her.

She held Khalia in her arms for a moment, trying to calm herself from shivering, and did her best to keep her balance as she slid down into the cave. "Moon?" she called, "Hello?"

Her voice echoed endlessly through the empty cavern, returning back to her several times before falling into silence. She could hardly see a thing, but she had a feeling that maybe Moon wasn't here after all. She turned back to Khalia, whose eyes glowed the faintest honey yellow in the dark. "Are you sure she's here? I don't think there's anyone-"

Before she could finish, there was a sudden hand clamped over her mouth and she was pulled back, into a hidden corner of the cavern. Panicking, she squealed, squirming and pulling away from the hold on her. Turning back, she glared. But then her eyes widened. "Moon?"

"Quiet," Moon hissed, giving a brief glance to the opening of he cavern before turning back to Isabella. "What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Isabella retorted, crossing her arms. "You pretty much skipped town!"

"Yeah, what of it?" Moon snapped, giving Isabella an irritated glare.

"Marissa and the boys are so worried about you," Isabella told her, "Haven't you even considered that?"

Moon shook her head. "They don't concern me," she said, "I think they'll survive on their own."

"Oh yeah?" Isabella challenged, her glare intensifying, "Well what if I said Phineas has been kidnapped by a guy with a robot?"

Moon faltered. "What?"

"Yeah, you heard me," Isabella snapped, "And the guy's after you. He said that if you don't show up he'll kill Phineas."

"He wouldn't-"

Isabella nearly screamed. "Moon, listen! If you don't go back there Phineas is going to die! Don't you care for him at all?"

"Well," Moon sat, pensive, in the corner for a moment, then turned back to Isabella with a sigh. "Not really."

"What is wrong with you?" Isabella cried, her voice echoing through the cave. She glared as hard as she could at Moon, knowing Moon wasn't intimidated by her but determined to get her point across. Her breath came out of her nostrils in thick angry puffs, and even Moon's presence made her a little uneasy, but still she refused to break her stare. She had to make Moon understand what she was doing.

Moon only stared back, her face completely blank. After a moment she spoke again, her voice its usual sullen quiet. "I wasn't going to stay anyway, you know," she said, "Even if this hadn't come up."

"So you know exactly what's going on, then," Isabella accused, settling her hands on her hips. She should have known Moon had been behind this, the reasoned. Tons of stuff ended up being Moon's fault, one way or another.

"No," Moon shook her head, her wild ponytail flicking back and forth as she did so, "I only found out a day or two ago."

"Find out about what? The robots? How much of this do you know? You're not telling us everything, and we need to know," Isabella demanded.

Moon snorted. "It's none of your business. Six-Bolt's not after you."

"It's exactly my business!" Isabella exclaimed, "Phineas just got kidnapped by a robot and I have to know why!"

Moon was silent for a long time. Her expression was unreadable; she only stared off into the darkness of the cave as if nothing else even existed. After a moment she turned back to Isabella. "Fine," she said quietly, "You really wanna know? I'll tell you."


	7. Making Friends

He hadn't realized he'd fallen asleep until he was startled awake. The cold metal floor wasn't the ideal place to sleep, but the machine seemed to draw its power from his energy, and so he'd had little choice. He sat, his shoulder a little sore from the hard floor he'd slept on, and yawned. His stomach rumbled angrily, although he knew he wouldn't be eating anytime soon. Hopefully he would live long enough to have dinner with the family again.

He missed that.

The machine that held him looked down at him, providing a little light from its cold metal eyes, and offered a small creak as a greeting. It hadn't slept - it couldn't - so it had just watched the little living thing rest. It wondered many things about him, but it knew that since he was not mechanical he couldn't understand it. It could speak only in the machine's tongue, but since it had been left to rot for so long it could hardly manage even that. Instead, it just watched.

The boy glanced up at the machine, his eyes dull and listless, and then he just sighed. It didn't like seeing him like this, but there was little that it could say to him since he didn't understand how it spoke. But there was something else, it remembered. It searched in its steel mind for the right thing to express - it wanted to cheer him up, and it thought that if it wasn't too rusted it might be able to manage that. It kept its eyes down on him, and tried to speak, although the sounds it made were far from understandable.

It almost seemed to the boy as if - no, it couldn't. Could it? Its pitch was dull and rusted over, but there was in the metal sound lyrical notes, hardly there. He could barely make them out through the corroded screeches, but the tune seemed almost familiar to him, as if he might have heard it before.

He looked up at the machine, his eyes huge and innocent, and asked, "What is that? I've heard it before."

The machine brightened. It wished it could tell him where it had gotten its voice, and for a moment it tried, but all that came out were the same mechanized grinds that it had offered before, and it knew that the boy wouldn't understand.

The boy just sighed. "I wish you could talk to me. I want to know what kind of stories you'd tell."

The machine agreed, although its own sigh sounded like the wheeze of a rusted spring, its burden slowly relieved. Something inside of it clicked a few times.

"Could you ever talk?" asked the boy, "Before you came here, I mean."

The automaton shook its head, making chips of corroded metal flake away from its neck and settle on the floor. It had never been able to talk, although the sounds that it made used to be more enthusiastic. Now, it knew, it was just a relic. It didn't stand a chance of leaving this place. Its old master would never come for it. Its old master was probably long gone by now, having forgotten all about it.

Dejected, it sighed.

The boy hopped up onto his feet, holding the bars of his cage in both hands. "Don't worry," he said with a hopeful grin, "We'll find a way out of here. We can take you back home and fix you up. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

The machine gave a single grind, indifferent. It didn't matter if it was here or there, strong or weak, old or new. It knew that it would rust here. There was no way it could escape its new master and, besides that, its old master had left it behind. It missed its master - its _true_ master - but it knew that it would never see anything other than this dank place again. It had been left here, inactive, for years until this little living thing had given it its energy source. It didn't like seeing him so tired, but since its new master had its key it couldn't possibly let him out.

The boy only watched it for a moment, but then frowned. "How come you've never tried to get out of here? That other robot doesn't treat you very well, does he?"

The machine shook its head. Its new master, Six-Bolt, had been mean to it since he had found it here a few weeks ago. If it could escape, it would, but Six-Bolt was in much better condition than the old machine, and it knew he would catch it and hurt it. He had done so once before, when he had found it here. It had asked him if he knew its old master, and he had struck it with a harsh fire, and had told it not to speak to him again. It didn't like him; it didn't like the intense blaze in his engine, or his piercing yellow headlights, or the way he spoke, and moved, like a rough hulking menace looking for a fight. It hadn't wanted to fight him. Instead it had stayed here, afraid to leave, hoping that one day its master would come for it.

This little living thing had come instead. It was glad that he wasn't afraid of it anymore - he had been at first, he'd admitted - and it thought that if it could stay here it might be friends with him. It wanted to keep him, although it didn't know why he had come, and if bad master Six-Bolt ever went away it thought it might want him to be its new master. It looked down at the little living thing in its cage, wishing it could tell him where it had come from but unable to make him understand anything it said. Instead it only watched him, silent.

The boy stared back at it, his eyes huge and curious. "You're a prisoner here too, aren't you? You want to get out of here..."

The machine gave a tiny nod, its joints protesting with a harsh screech, and then seemed to settle a little in its place, keeping its eyes solidly on the boy inside of it.

The boy sat, cross-legged, both hands still around the bars of his cage, and sighed. "I wish I could get you out of here. It's just that you're so big, and I didn't bring any of my tools with me. Sorry about that, I guess. I wonder when that other robot will let me go. Maybe I'll ask him if he'd let you go too. But for now we can both be friends, right?"

The machine brought up one of its wiry hands into its cage, curling its two spindly fingers around the boy in what it hoped he would accept as a hug. With a reassuring grind, it settled down to rest for a while.


End file.
